Southern California has long been the destination of the world’s greatest prizefighters dating back to the 1890s.
From the old Vernon Arena to the Olympic Auditorium and later the Inglewood Forum, many of the most historic clashes were witnessed in those venues.

A new gladiator’s haven has arisen and this Saturday three world champions — Jessie Magdaleno, Gilberto Ramirez and Lake Elsinore’s Oscar Valdez — will look to add to the already legendary lore of the StubHub Center in Carson.

It will be televised by On Demand pay-per-view.

“There’s something about that arena that just attracts good fights like the two Israel Vazquez fights there,” said Valdez, the WBO featherweight titleholder.

The StubHub Center, which first opened in 2003 as a tennis stadium, is an open-air venue that has staged many of the greatest fights over the past decade.

Who can forget the two incredible battles Israel “El Magnifico” Vazquez and Rafael Marquez partook in 2007 and 2008? Or the mind blowing exchanges between Tim “Desert Storm” Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov in 2013? Last year’s bloody war between Orlando Salido and Francisco Vargas was a popular choice as Fight of the Year.

Those are just a few examples but there were many more.

Fighters know the short but impressive history of those who performed well at the Carson venue and what it did for the careers of Bradley, Josesito Lopez, Shane Mosley, John Molina and Vic Darchinyan.

Careers are made or broken in this arena that holds 8,000 seats. Gennady “GGG” Golovkin basically was baptized as a fight fan favorite at StubHub.

Now, a new batch of world champions like Valdez hope to carve a memorable performance for fans.

“I was there when Brandon Rios fought Mike Alvarado and Timothy Bradley fought Ruslan Provodnikov,” Valdez said. “They were just great fights. I wouldn’t mind bringing to the fans a good, good fight.”

“I wasn’t happy with my last performance at StubHub,” Valdez, 26, said. “Now I get the chance to put up a good fight. Here’s a guy (Marriaga) whose style and my style should put up a good fight. In my last fight at StubHub, I didn’t do so good. I won, but I disappointed my fans.”

Valdez survived a knockdown and won by decision against a Ruben Tamayo on June 2015.

WBO super middleweight titlist Ramirez (34-0, 24 Kos) makes his first title defense after a year off due to injury. He fights Ukraine’s Max Bursak (33-4-1, 15 Kos) a veteran of many wars.

“There are just so many great fights at the StubHub,” said Magdaleno, 25, who lives in Las Vegas. “I want to put on a great show too like those guys before.”

Doors open at 3 p.m.

Fight Chatter
Former female amateur star Adelaida Ruiz, now 28, finally makes her pro debut. The former high desert boxer meets Rebecca Light of Northern California in a lightweight bout at the Quiet Cannon in Montebello on Friday. For more information call (323) 816-6200. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Amanda Serrano (31-1-1, 23 Kos) attempts to win her fifth world title in five weight divisions when she faces ex-world champion Dahiana Santana (35-8) for the vacant WBO bantamweight belt at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday. Serrano, 28, already has world titles in the super bantamweight, featherweight, super featherweight and lightweight divisions.
U.S. Olympic silver medalist Shakur Stevenson makes his pro debut on the Top Rank card on Saturday at StubHub Center. Stevenson, 19, meets Edgar Brito (3-2-1) in a six round featherweight match.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.